I surveyed 10 Recruiters in the Tech industry.
I asked, “What does the ideal resume format look like?”
Here’s what I got:
*Full Disclaimer: I’m not typically a stickler on formatting, but I do get a lot of questions about it. IMO, if the formatting is good, no one will think about it.
1. Single column layout only
ATS systems and human eyes both scan left to right, top to bottom. Two-column resumes break parsing and make scanning harder.
2. 0.5-0.75 inch margins
Tight enough to fit content, wide enough to not look crammed. Default 1-inch margins waste space.
3. Consistent heading hierarchy
Section headers (Experience, Education) should be the same size and weight throughout.
Company names should match each other.
Titles should match each other.
4. Strategic use of bold or italics
Bold either company names OR job titles, not both. Make sure these are easily separable when scanning.
When everything is bold, nothing stands out.
5. 10-11pt font size for body text
Readable without being wasteful.
12pt is too large for experienced professionals.
9pt looks like you’re hiding something.
Calibri 11pt or Arial 10pt are safe defaults.
6. Right-aligned dates
This puts employment timeline in one clean vertical line. Makes gap identification instant.
Left-aligned or embedded dates slow down the scanning process.
7. Adequate white space between sections
One full blank line between jobs.
Half line between bullets.
Section breaks need breathing room.
Dense text blocks kill readability fast.
8. Bullet points, not paragraphs
Every accomplishment gets its own line with a bullet. 3-5 bullets per role is the sweet spot.
Paragraph blocks under job descriptions are auto-skipped.
9. Consistent date formatting
Their suggestion: Pick “Jan 2020 – Dec 2023” or “01/2020 – 12/2023” and stick with it.
Mixing formats looks sloppy.
Month + Year is standard.
Including specific days is unnecessary.
10. Clean header with contact info
Name at top (slightly larger, 14-16pt).
Email and phone on one line below.
LinkedIn URL optional.
No street address needed.
No graphics, no headshots, no decorative lines.
_ _ _
And that’s the list!
I hope this helps folks make better resumes.
Note: In most cases, these answers were unanimous. A few of the questions were 90% consensus, with a few alternative suggestions.
To my audience…
Did any of these sugestions suprise you?
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